The present invention relates generally to a method of treating hair. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods or techniques used for selectively treating and/or styling a person""s hair.
The contents of each U.S. patent or other reference, if any, cited in this application, are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The style of a person""s hair can be an important means of self-expression. The style of an individual""s hair including length, cut, texture, and color immediately presents an image for the rest of the world to scrutinize and assess. The need for advanced hair styling techniques in order to provide persons with creative self-expressive options cannot be over stated.
Coloring is a specific hair styling treatment that can add interest and attractiveness to a person""s hair. At one time, coloring or highlighting of the hair was limited to bleaching, dying, streaking and/or tinting. In recent years, coloring or highlighting of the hair have included advanced color blending and color weaving that enable the hair stylist to integrate a plurality of color into the hair, i.e., the ability to selectively color precise sections of hair.
Many techniques have been developed for treating hair, which have advantages and disadvantages and which provide varying degrees of success, depending upon the skill of the operator and other factors. There are three generally recognized methods of treating hair: cap highlighting, foiling, and the use of a transparent polymer.
In cap highlighting, a person""s hair is covered with a cap made of a flexible material having a plurality of small holes. Using a small tool, the person""s hair is pulled through the individual holes. Coloring of the hair then takes place on the selected hair sections. This method is subject to a number of problems. The liquid coloring often xe2x80x9cbleedsxe2x80x9d through the holes in the cap and the bleach or coloring spreads unevenly to strands or portions of hair not intended to be highlighted. Furthermore, pulling of the hair through the small cap holes can be uncomfortable.
Foiling involves the use of aluminum foil strips. The foil strips are folded around a section of hair to be treated together with the treating chemical or material in paste form. The foil is then folded in half, sandwiching the hair segment between the top and bottom halves The sides of the foil are then folded in an attempt to keep air away from the chemically treated hair. This procedure is repeated for each segment of hair to be highlighted. Foil highlighting is a highly used method of treating hair but suffers from a number of disadvantages. Foiling is a cumbersome and slow process. Unless the treatment is done precisely, there is a tendency for dry spots to develop due to the inability of the foil to provide an adequate seal. In addition, there is a tendency for leakage or slippage to occur due to movement of the person""s head or a slip by the stylist. In addition, the stylist, due to the opaque nature of the foil material, cannot adequately observe the progress of the treatment. In addition, heat, needed to speed the chemical process, damages the hair.
In recent years, the use of a transparent polymer or other plastic has gained favor due to the stylist""s ability to better monitor the hair coloring chemical process. One such prior art method uses a transparent plastic with a thickness of approximately 0.050 mm. Such plastic does not effectuate an optimal seal to contain the chemical additive placed on the hair to be treated. Such plastic is heavy, cannot be folded or rolled, and may slip due to the combined weight of the plastic, chemical additive, and hair, resulting in the undesirable mixing of chemicals. Furthermore, with such thickness of plastic in place the stylist is unable to cut the hair, thereby prohibiting a precision high-level styling of the person""s hair.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method to selectively treat and/or style precise sections of hair that is more efficient, highly effective, reliable, and cost effective than known methods.
The present invention describes a method to selectively treat and/or style precise sections of hair that is more efficient, highly effective, reliable, and cost effective than known methods.
The film used in the present invention comprises a polymer or plastic material. Suitable materials from which the film may be made include polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polypropylene. The preferred material is a substantially planar, substantially rectangular, substantially transparent, film made of polyethelyne terethylate (PET) having thickness less than 0.050 mm and greater than or equal to 0.025 mm. A film with a thickness (thinness) within the aforementioned range is referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cthin film.xe2x80x9d
Extensive testing has resulted in a finding that compared to a film equal to or greater than 0.050 mm, the thin film: (1) increases static conductivity, resulting in shorter chemical process time, greater sealing or bonding strength, and reduced slippage of the film and bleeding of the treatment; (2) allows the hair to be cut with the thin film and chemical in place; (3) reduces weight; (4) retains durability; (5) improves handling characteristics; and (6) lowers operating costs.
Typically, the process begins when an individual desires to have his or her hair styled. Generally, hair styling includes a modification or alteration of the length, cut, texture, and/or the color of a person""s hair. These modifications further include straightening, conditioning, bleaching, dying, tinting, and the advanced coloring techniques of color blending and color weaving that enable the hair stylist to integrate a plurality of color into the hair.
One method of the present invention begins when a salon stylist or other person weaves a section of a person""s hair in order to selectively isolate the section of hair for treatment or highlighting purposes. In one embodiment of the present invention, a single thin film is used on each section of hair. The thin film is placed against the selected section of hair and a chemical is applied to the section of hair. The thin film is sealed in order to contain the chemical. Typically, rolling or folding the thin film onto itself so that static conductivity facilitates bonding of the thin film accomplishes the sealing of a single thin film.
Alternatively, multiple thin films may be used in accordance with the present invention. The thin films are placed against each other, containing the sectioned hair and chemical between the two thin films. Static conductivity facilitates sealing or bonding between the two thin films. Generally, when two thin films are used to contain or sandwich the sectioned hair and chemical, there is no need to roll or fold the thin film. Typically, static conductivity allows the thin films to bond together in a substantially flat arrangement.
The use of single or multiple thin films allow the stylist to cut a person""s hair with the thin film(s) and chemical in place. The ability to cut the hair with the thin film(s) and chemical in place facilitates a precision high-level style. The thin film isolates the hair during the treatment process. The hair no longer has to be separated, after the film and chemical have been removed, from the other hair in order to cut the hair.
The present invention as described herein thus provides a method to selectively treat and/or style precise sections of hair that is more efficient, highly effective, reliable and cost effective than known methods.